18 Reasons Why America May Be Disliked by Our International Neighbors
1. 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty.
In December 2001, the US withdrew from the Treaty,
gutting the landmark agreement--the first time in the
nuclear era that the US renounced a maor arms control
accord.
2. Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
Ratified in 1972 by 144 nations including the United
States. But, in July 2001, the US walked out of a
London conference to discuss a 1994 protocol designed
to strengthen the Convention by providing for on-site
inspections.
3. United Nations Agreement to Curb the International
Flow of Illicit Small Arms.
Drafted in July 2001, the agreement was approved by
everyone except the US.
4. UN Human Rights Commission.
In April 2001, the US was not reelected to the
Commission after years of withholding dues to the UN
(including then current dues of $244 million) and
after having forced the UN to lower the US share of
the UN budget from 25 to 22 percent.
5. International Criminal Court (ICC) Treaty. Set up
in The Hague to try political leaders and military
personnel charged with war crimes and crimes against
humanity. Signed in Rome in July 1998, the Treaty was
approved by 120 countries, with 7 opposed (including
the US).
6. Land Mine Treaty. Banning land mines, it was
signed in Ottawa in December 1997 by 122 nations. The
United States refused to sign, along with Russia,
China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, and
Egypt.
7. Kyoto Protocol of 1997, for controlling global
warming. Declared "dead" by President Bush in March
2001.
8. Economic espionage and electronic surveillance of
phone calls, e-mail, and faxes. In May 2001, the US
refused to meet with European Union nations to discuss
these issues, even at lower levels of government.
9. Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD). The US refused to participate in
OECD-sponsored talks in Paris, May 2001, on ways to
crack down on off-shore and other tax and
money-laundering havens.
10. Pledge by 123 nations to ban the use an
dproduction of anti-personnel bombs and mines, Febrary
2001. The US refused to join.
11. International Plan for Cleaner Energy, July 2001.
Out of the G-8 group of industrial nations (US,
Canada, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, UK) the
US was the only one to oppose it.
12. UN General Assembly resolution calling for an end
to the US embargo of Cuba. Passed in October 2001 for
the tenth consecutive year by a vote of 167 to 3. The
US, Israel and the Marshall Islands opposed it.
13. Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty. Signed
by 164 nations and ratified by 89 including France,
GreatBritain, and Russia; signed by President Clinton
in 1996, but rejected by the Senate in 1999.
14. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The US
has signed but not ratified this 1989 agreement, which
protects the economic
15. Optional Protocol to the UN's International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Pass in 1989
and aimed at abolition of the death penalty, and
containing a provision banning the execution of those
under 18. The US has neither signed nor ratified, and
specifically exempts itself from the latter provision,
making it one of the five countries that still execute
juveniles (along with Saudi Arabia, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Iran, and Nigeria.) China
abolished the practice in 1997, Pakistan in 2000.
16. 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women. The only
countries that have signed but not ratified are the
>US, Afghanistan, Sao Tome, and Principe.
17. International Court of Justice (The Hague). In
1986 the Court rules that the US was in violation of
international law for "unlawful use of froce" in
Nicaragua through its actions and those of its Contra
proxy army. The US refused to recognize the Court's
jurisdiction. A UN resolution calling for compliance
with the Court's decision was approved 94-2 with only
the US and Israel voting no.
18. Measured by the percentage of their gross
domestic product contributed to foreign aid, the 3
highest providers are Denmark (1.01%), Norway (0.91%),
and the Netherlands (0.79%) The lowest are Australia,
Portugal, and Austria (all 0.26%), UK (0.23%), and the
US (0.10%)